Jeremiah 18
18
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
2 "Rise up and descend into the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words."
3 And I descended into the house of the potter, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel.
4 And the vessel, which he was making with his hands out of clay, broke. And turning away, he made another vessel, for it had been pleasing in his eyes to make it.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6 "Am I not able to do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done, says the Lord? Behold, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
7 Suddenly, I will speak against a nation and against a kingdom, so that I may uproot, and destroy, and scatter it.
8 If that nation, against which I have spoken, will repent from their evil, I too will repent from the evil that I have decided I would do to them.
9 And soon, I will speak about a nation and about a kingdom, so that I may build and plant it.
10 If it does evil in my sight, so as not to listen to my voice, I will repent of the good that I have said I would do to it.
11 Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am forming an evil against you, and I am considering a plan against you. Let each one of you return from his evil way, and direct your ways and your intentions well."
12 And they said: "We have lost hope. And so we will follow our own thoughts, and each of us will act according to the depravity of his own evil heart."
13 For this reason, thus says the Lord: "Inquire among the Gentiles. Who has heard of such horrible things as the virgin of Israel has done to excess?
14 Do the snows of Lebanon fail to fall on the rocks of the field? Or are the cold waters, which burst forth and flow down, able to be rooted out?
15 Yet my people have forgotten me, offering useless libations, and stumbling in their ways, in the paths of the world, so that they walk by these on an unmarked route.
16 And so their land has been given over to desolation and to perpetual hissing. Each one who passes by will be astonished and will shake his head.
17 Like a burning wind, I will disperse them in the sight the enemy. I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their perdition."
18 And they said: "Come, and let us devise a plan against Jeremiah. For the law will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor a sermon from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us pay no attention to any of his words."
19 Attend to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
20 Should evil be rendered for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul! Remember that I have stood in your sight, so as to speak on their behalf for good, and to avert your indignation from them.
21 Because of this, give their sons over to famine, and bring them to the hand of the sword. Let their wives be widows without children. And let their husbands be slain by death. Let their youths be stabbed with the sword in battle.
22 Let an outcry be heard from their houses. For you will lead the robber upon them suddenly. For they have dug a pit, so that they may seize me, and they have hidden snares for my feet.
23 But you, O Lord, know all their plans against me unto death. May you not forgive their iniquity, and do not allow their sin be taken away from your face. Let them be thrown down in your sight, in the time of your fury, so that you may destroy them.
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Jeremiah 18
18
Parable of the Potter
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Go down at once to the potter’s house;#Is 29:16; Jr 19:1–2 there I will reveal my words to you.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.#18:3 Lit pair of stones 4But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.#Rm 9:21
5The word of the Lord came to me: 6“House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?” — this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.#Gn 2:7–8; Is 43:1; 64:8 7At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.#Jr 1:10; 24:6; 31:28 8However, if that nation about which I have made the announcement turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.#2Sm 24:1; Jr 42:10; Jnh 3:10 9At another time I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it.#Jr 1:10 10However, if it does what is evil in my sight by not listening to me, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.#Ezk 18:25–29; 33:12–13 11So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.’#Jr 4:18; 7:3; 35:15 12But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.#Is 57:12; Jr 2:25 We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
Deluded Israel
13Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
Ask among the nations,
who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most horrible thing.#Jr 5:30; Hs 6:10
14Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags?
Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?
15Yet my people have forgotten me.#Jr 2:32; 3:21; 13:25; Ezk 22:12; 23:35; Hs 8:14
They burn incense to worthless idols
that make them stumble in their ways#Ezk 14:3,4,7; 44:12; Rv 2:14
on the ancient roads,#Jr 6:16
and make them walk on new paths, not the highway.
16They have made their land a horror,#Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 19:8; 25:9,18; 29:18; 42:18; 44:12,22; 50:13; Mc 6:16; Zph 2:15
a perpetual object of scorn;#18:16 Lit hissing#Lm 2:15
all who pass by it will be appalled#Jr 19:8; 49:17
and shake their heads.#Jb 2:11; 42:11; Ps 22:7; 69:20; Is 51:19; Jr 15:5; 48:27; Nah 3:7
17I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind.#Ex 10:13; 14:21; Jb 27:21; 38:24; Ps 48:7; Is 27:8; Jr 13:24
I will show them#18:17 LXX, Lat, Syr, Tg; MT reads will look at them my back and not my face#2Ch 29:6; Jr 2:27; 32:33; Ezk 8:16
on the day of their calamity.
Plot against Jeremiah
18Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah,#Jr 11:19 for instruction will never be lost from the priest,#Jr 2:8,26; 5:31; 6:13; 8:10; 13:13; 23:11,33; Ezk 7:26; Mc 3:11; Zph 3:4 or counsel from the wise, or a word from the prophet.#Jr 5:13 Come, let’s denounce him#18:18 Lit let’s strike him with the tongue and pay no attention to all his words.”
19Pay attention to me, Lord.
Hear what my opponents are saying!#Ps 55:2–3; 142:6
20Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.#Ps 35:7; 57:6
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good on their behalf,
to turn your anger from them.
21Therefore, hand their children over to famine,#Ps 109:9–20
and give them over to the power of the sword.
Let their wives become childless and widowed,
their husbands slain by deadly disease,#18:21 Lit by death
their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22Let a cry be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring raiders against them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.#Ps 140:5; 142:3
23But you, Lord, know
all their deadly plots against me.
Do not wipe out their iniquity;#Neh 4:5
do not blot out their sin before you.
Let them be forced to stumble before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
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